A memoir by Japanese Emperor Hirohito that offers his recollections of World War II fetched $275,000, nearly double its expected top price, at an auction in Manhattan on Wednesday. The 173-page document was dictated to his aides soon after the end of the war. It was created at
A memoir by Japanese Emperor Hirohito that offers his recollections of World War II fetched $275,000, nearly double its expected top price, at an auction in Manhattan on Wednesday.
The 173-page document was dictated to his aides soon after the end of the war. It was created at the request of Gen. Douglas MacArthur, whose administration controlled Japan at the time.
The winning buyer was from Japan, according to Alice Lok, a spokeswoman for the auction house Bonhams. No other details were immediately provided.
The memoir, also known as the imperial monologue, covers events from the Japanese assassination of Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin in 1928 to the emperor’s surrender broadcast recorded on Aug.
